buy vs build
Don’t build a docs platform. Just create great docs.
Building docs tooling is a long-term commitment. GitBook gives you a faster, safer way to scale documentation without the maintenance burden.
Building your own documentation is never as simple as it seems
Most teams build a custom solution because they want speed, control and flexibility. And at first, it works.
But documentation isn’t static content — it’s a product in its own right. That’s why building docs is a commitment most teams underestimate. And the hidden costs soon start to show.
What looked like a quick win becomes long-term infrastructure that you’re responsible for owning, securing, scaling, and improving.
The hidden costs of custom documentation
Complex workflows
Writers and PMs struggle with tools that weren’t built for them.
Maintenance effort
Keeping docs accurate turns into a manual, reactive chore.
Feature lag
Innovation stalls because docs tooling is never the top priority.
GitBook gives you the benefits of a custom platform — without the cost and technical burden
GitBook is a purpose-built documentation platform designed to scale with your team, your product, and your users — without pulling focus away from what matters most.
Instead of maintaining tooling, your team can focus on what matters, and benefit from:
The result? Documentation that scales effortlessly, stays accurate, and delivers value without becoming another system your team has to manually maintain.
Why teams choose GitBook over custom-built docs
Teams choose GitBook when they outgrow internal tools and realize documentation deserves the same level of polish as their product.
GitBook helps teams:
01
Reduce the long-term cost of documentation ownership
02
Ship better docs faster, without custom development
03
Empower your whole organization to contribute confidently
04
Improve user discovery and self-serve success
05
Scale documentation without scaling complexity
From startups to fast-growing product teams, GitBook replaces brittle internal systems with a platform built specifically for documentation at scale. And it’s trusted by the world’s leading teams.
Stop maintaining documentation infrastructure. Start delivering better docs.
Building and maintaining a docs platform is a long-term bet that rarely pays off.
GitBook gives you everything you need to create, scale, and evolve documentation your users trust, without pulling your team away from building your product.
Don’t build new tooling. Build better documentation.
